


And They Were Roommates

by minweasel



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Highschool AU, Highschool Camp, Hizzie Enemies to Friends, Posie Endgame, Tiny bit of angst but mostly fluff and all things Posie, and they were ROOMMATES, no powers, oh my god they were roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:20:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minweasel/pseuds/minweasel
Summary: Highschool AU -  Penelope is the Popular 'it' girl whilst Josie is the opposite. (I promise it's not as cliche as you think it will be, just stick with me)There is more to Penelope than meets the eye. She had a rough childhood and genuinely hates her title as the popular girl. She despises having to tear others down to maintain her reputation but the truth is she is just scared. Scared that if lets others see the real her then they won't want her because nobody's ever actually tried to get to know her.But what happens when Penelope lets slip to Josie that she is not all that she seems to be and Josie makes an effort to know the real Penelope?
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 83
Kudos: 216





	1. Her Name Is Josie

Penelope has always been a popular girl. At every school she's gone to, that's been her title. It's just the vibe that she gives off and that's no different at Mystic Falls High. She's only been at this school for a little over a semester and she already commands attention. 

What nobody knows about Penelope is that she hates this title. She despises it. She never wants to be the popular girl but things always seem to end up that way. Every time her family moves, she tries to start afresh but then someone would try to pry into her personal life and her walls instantly go up. Her bitchy exterior starts to show and she becomes the popular girl she hates.

Every time she moves she tells herself to open up, and every time she just can't do it. She tries to tell people about her family drama and her struggles with mental health. She wants to tell them about who the real 'Penelope' is. And every time, all that happens is that her walls go up higher than they ever were before.

Parents always tell their kids 'they only say that to try and make themselves feel better' whenever their kid gets bullied at school. But for Penelope that was never the case. She hates tearing down others with every fiber of her being but she does it because she is scared. Scared that if she doesn't go along with the rest of her group then she will have nobody. Because nobody would spend time helping break down her walls and actually get to know her right? She'll just be alone, right?

So what choice does she really have? She's stuck at this school for another year and a half until she graduates, so is she just supposed to be a loner for the rest of her time here? No. She wasn't going to put herself through that, not again.

 _'It's me or them'_ Penelope thinks. And every time, she chooses 'me'. And every time she hates herself for it. She turns into a person she isn't, hangs out with the type of people she hates - well leads them really - and she tears down her peers for any and every mistake they make.

Something about one girl, in particular, has her stumped. There's just something about her that makes you want to like her and become friends with her. There's this something that makes you want to fall in love with her. Or maybe it's just Penelope. 

Her name is Josie. And for the life of Penelope, she just can't figure out what that 'little something' is. 

Penelope's possy constantly tears down Josie, she is one of their favorite victims because Josie has no friends to run to. Well, she does. She has her sister - Lizzie - but she is too caught up in her own friends and hating on everything that breathes to do anything about Josie's situation.

Penelope can't really blame Lizzie, Josie doesn't let anybody know when she needs help. Penelope has watched as Josie crumbled underneath the wrath of her minions before slowly putting herself back together just enough so that nobody notices that anything is wrong. Penelope can tell that it's slowly tearing her apart.

And Penelope takes no pleasure in watching her friends tear down the pour girl. And no, that wasn't a typo, all she does is watch. She just didn't have it in her to tear this girl down. She knows that she should step in for her, that she shouldn't just stand there because what use is not partaking in emotionally bashing Josie if she isn't going to help her?

To be honest, Penelope doesn't really have an answer. But she can't bring herself to tear down the girl and she can't get herself to stand up for her either. She's too much of a coward and she just wishes that she could help her, but she's too scared.

Penelope didn't have a good childhood and it messed her up. Her parent's divorce when she was little, their battle for custody, and the constant moving due to her parent's ugly reaction to her coming out, her 'friends' ditching her for the very same reason that her parents would no longer look at her, it messed her up. And not only with her mental health.

Her 'friends' ditching her was one thing, but her parents refusing to look her in the eye, and them shunning her between the two of them because she was an 'abomination' did nothing to help with her trust issues.

__

As Penelope walked into her chemistry class, remembering that they were doing pair work that day, she made a split-second decision.

"Hey Josie," Penelope said, scootching in next to Josie.

Josie jumped a little when Penelope had sat down beside her and just gave her a bit of a shell shocked look but said nothing.

"I noticed that you're sister went home sick earlier today," Penelope rushed to explain, "We'll be doing partner work today so I didn't want to leave you alone."

Penelope gave her a smile and Josie was confident that it was actually genuine. This just confused her more so she decided to just sit there in silence, waiting for Dr. Williams to give them their instructions for today.

Penelope noticed how Josie's lips were purposely sealed shut and she decided to wait with her.

The rest of the class passed with relative silence between the two girls. They worked together well once they got their instructions but they only ever exchanged words when necessary. In fact, they worked so well together that they were the first pair done and had just over ten minutes to spare at the end of class.

Penelope wasn't really sure if this was a good or a bad thing because she didn't know what to say to Josie. She knew that Josie probably hated her, she had every right to, but she wanted to say something to clear the air between them.

"Listen, Josie," Penelope started, not really knowing where to go with this, apparently Josie didn't know either because she looked up in shock when she spoke after they had sat in silence for almost ten minutes

"I... Uh... I just wanted to say... that... that I'm..." She paused for breath and Josie raised an eyebrow at her. It wasn't teasing but it wasn't unkind either. 

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

In all honesty, she didn't know what reaction she was expecting from Josie. She didn't know if her words were going to seem unkind or if they would seem consoling.

"Just stop trying to be nice," Josie huffed, "Stop pretending to care because I know you don't."

Josie didn't seem mad at her, just a little frustrated. Penelope tried to clarify what she had said, wanting to explain to Josie that she was actually being genuine but the second she opened her mouth Josie stopped her. _Maybe the girl did have a backbone after all._

"You've already done enough Penelope, so if your goal here is to befriend me and then ditch me, save it. You've already made my life a living hell."

Still, Josie didn't seem mad. There was no bite behind her bark and Penelope was glad for it even though she definitely deserved it.

Despite what Josie had told her, she decided to continue anyway seeing as the clock showed twenty seconds until dismissal. This meant that Josie would have no time to respond to whatever she said. She just really had to get something off her chest.

"Listen, Josie, I was being genuine. I am sorry." She looked up at the clock and saw ten seconds until dismissal so she decided to speed up, "I know this probably isn't going to make you feel any better or anything, and I know this doesn't make me any better of a person, but I never actually did anything to you. I never stood up for you either but I never-" And the bell rang. 

Penelope thought she got enough of her point across so before Josie could pull her back, she rushed out of the class, feeling a little freer. She didn't care how Josie would react, whether it would make the girl hate her even more, she just had to get it out.

Josie in fact wasn't mad. She was confused. She had seen the hurt behind Penelope's eyes as she spoke to Josie and it left her questioning everything she ever knew about the school's 'it' girl. Maybe there was more to her than she originally thought.


	2. She Allowed Herself To Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie thinks over what Penelope told her. She flashes back to every time Penelope's possy had been mean to her and realises that Penelope was right. Granted she never stood up for Josie but she never took part. So where did that leave her?

"Listen, Josie, I was being genuine. I am sorry." She looked up at the clock and saw ten seconds until dismissal so she decided to speed up, "I know this probably isn't going to make you feel any better or anything, and I know this doesn't make me any better of a person, but I never actually did anything to you. I never stood up for you either but I never-" And the bell rang. 

Penelope thought she got enough of her point across so before Josie could pull her back, she rushed out of the class, feeling a little freer. She didn't care how Josie would react, whether it would make the girl hate her even more, she just had to get it out.

Josie in fact wasn't mad. She was confused. She had seen the hurt behind Penelope's eyes as she spoke to Josie and it left her questioning everything she ever knew about the school's 'it' girl. Maybe there was more to her than she originally thought.

Josie stood sat there, a little shell shocked until she realized that she was the only one left in class. Even the teacher had left. It had been the last class on a Friday which was probably why everyone had left so quickly. 

She knew that there was going to be a party that night and that her sister Lizzie would be going so that meant she would have the house to herself for the night. That meant she had time to think about what Penelope had just said and to be honest, she wasn't really sure if that was a good or bad thing.

By the time she left the class and walked to her locker to collect her stuff, the hall was practically empty. Although most of the time she was quite content with being alone, right now she just wanted something to distract her from Penelope's words constantly replaying in her head and the pained look on Penelope's face as she had said them.

_Listen, Josie, I was being genuine. I am sorry._

_I am sorry._

_I am sorry._

It kept replaying in her head the entire walk back to her house.

Now that she thought back on it, Penelope's words had rung true. Penelope never actually did partake in the emotional onslaught of snarky comments directed at Josie, in fact, she always wore that similar pained expression while it was happening. 

She was by no means an innocent bystander, but she wasn't the girl that Josie assumed that she was. So where did that leave her?

__

Over the following week, Josie was waiting for Penelope to screw up, for Penelope to be mean, to be rude to her. That way, everything would just be so much easier and she wouldn't have to accept that Penelope was wearing a mask or that she wasn't the cold-hearted bitch everyone thought that she was.

But Penelope didn't screw up.

In fact, no one did. Nobody in her 'possy' ever made a move towards her and it shook her. Normally she couldn't go a day without being harassed and she didn't know if this was some sort of ploy or if things were really were changing. 

On Friday, these exact thoughts were coursing through her head as she rushed through the halls, late to class. She wasn't really paying attention and as a result, walked right into Penelope's right-hand woman, Sasha.

Sasha's friends managed to steady her but Josie wasn't so lucky, not having anybody to stop her fall. Her back slammed into the hard tiled floor. She grimaced in pain as she tried to mentally prepare herself for what was about to come. Normally she didn't even have to provoke Sasha and her friends for her to poke at Josie but this time, she had smashed right into her.

To her surprise, Sasha does nothing. Instead, she smirks at the brunette now lying on the floor as she bends down to pick up the book that she had dropped. 

Josie makes a move to stand up and apologize but Sasha cuts her off, "Watch it, Saltzman," She said in a playful yet teasing tone, "Just because Penelope's got a soft spot for you doesn't mean that we do too. So move it."

She instantly shuffled away before she could process these words. But by the time she had done so, Sasha and her friends had left the hall and she had no opportunity to question what they had said. But that didn't really matter, it wasn't like Sasha would have given her a straight answer if she had asked her anyway.

__

At the end of the day, Penelope sat outside the Principles office having just been caught skipping class.

"You can come in Miss. Park," She heard Dr. Saltman say through the closed door to his office. 

She walked in and he motioned to the chair in front of his desk and she sat down.

"I believe you were caught skipping class?" Dr. Saltzman asked her.

She only nodded.

"For the fourth time this semester?" He continued.

She nodded again. It wasn't that she was getting worse at covering for herself, she just sometimes couldn't be bothered with the hassle of hiding from the teachers when they came searching for her if she was missing from class. She was just a bit lazy that way.

"Normally, this would be cause for suspension," He paused for breath but upon seeing the panicked look on Penelope's face, he continued, "But, the school camp is coming up, in fact, it starts on Monday."

She still couldn't really see where this was going so she stayed silent.

"As you know, the teachers usually pair up friends to room together but-" He was cut off by Penelope.

"Wait, is my punishment going to be that I can't room with my friends?" She asked, pretending to be madder than she really was to get out of anything worse. What a dumb punishment.

He nodded in response. "So I take it you understand?"

"Yup, all good here Dr. S," And she had already stood up and began walking out the door, hearing him call something along the lines of 'be more careful next time' which she found rather dumb as she took that to mean 'don't get caught next time' and that probably wasn't the message he was trying to get across there.

Penelope knew that this 'punishment' just meant that she would get paired up with the lone wolf, Hope. She was the only one who never had someone to room with, not that Hope really minded.

**The two were never openly hostile to each other and for Penelope to have that kind of relationship with someone practically made them best friends so Penelope wasn't all too fussed about her punishment. She knew her friends would put up a big fight about it but she didn't really care.**

**__**

Josie thought that this camp would provide a good distraction for her. The teachers always, without fail paired her up with Lizzie - and maybe her Dad being the principle had a little something to do with that - so she knew that she would have Lizzie's constant rambling to take her mind off of Penelope.

As the two of them arrived at school with their Dad, they got out of the car and said their goodbyes.

The two of them walked over to the bus, putting their luggage at the bottom and walking over to the instructor to sign in.

As they were relatively early, and there weren't very many people on the bus yet, they got to choose their seats. Lizzie, knowing that she would spend the entirety of the camp with Josie, decided to sit with her friends at the front of the bus whilst Josie opted to sit at the very back and dig into a book.

She was so immersed in the book that she didn't notice the bus filling up around her.

A woman at the front of the bus told them there were only a few minutes until they were supposed to leave and only one more student that they were waiting for so she decided to put her book away, knowing that she would get carsick if she was reading during the ride. She took out her phone and headphones from her back to play music on the journey.

She was just about the press play when she noticed someone sit down beside her. She looked up confused as to why anybody would be sitting next to her and found a fashionably late Penelope getting comfortable beside her. Her confusion only intensified.

Penelope seemed to read her and offered her an explanation, "I was late so there weren't very many spaces left. I hope you don't mind."

Penelope offered her a winning smile with that last line and the only thought that came to her mind was _'who are you and what have you done with Penelope Park!'_ because the old Penelope rarely ever spoke to her, let alone smiled at her.

She didn't really know how to respond so she only nodded. 

She looked back at her phone and was about to put her headphones back in when she remembered what Sasha had said to her on Friday. She froze. 

"What?" Penelope asked her, apparently she noticed the way that she had stiffened, "Did you forget to pack something?"

"I uh... I just wanted to say thank you," Penelope looked slightly confused so Josie continued, "for what you did with your friends I mean. I put two and two together that you were the one that got them to stop harassing me."

Penelope gave her a smile and a bit of a weird look that Josie couldn't really read.

"What exactly did they tell you for you to be able to put two and two together that it was me?" Penelope asked, still wearing that strange look.

"They said you had a soft spot for me," Josie teased in a friendly voice, one she had never used with Penelope before. 

Penelope suddenly flushed at these words and tried to look away from Josie. Josie found this rather funny - and also a little cute but she was never going to tell anybody that.

"They weren't supposed to tell you that," Penelope managed to get out, still blushing profusely.

Josie just giggled at this reaction and made a move to put her headphones in, but before she did so, she added, "Anyways, Thanks." And then started listening to her music and looked out the window.

Penelope smiled at this and mirrored Josie's action, putting in some headphones and listening to music. Apparently finally working up the courage to tell her friends to stand down had been the right thing to do Penelope thought. 

It had been terrifying to do so and even more terrifying when Sasha questioned her intentions. But she just told them that it didn't matter and to just deal with it, which they did.

__

About an hour into the bus ride, Penelope looked up to see a sleeping Josie. Josie looked so peaceful at that moment and it gave Penelope pause for thought. 

Maybe, just maybe, Josie would be the one to tear down her walls. And maybe, she didn't really mind because all someone had to do to really get to know the real her was care. 

Penelope desperately wanted someone to care enough to try and get to know her, for someone to see through her bitchy exterior whenever they would pry into her personal life and see that all that she was hiding was a scared young teenage girl, terrified of rejection and commitment.

She wasn't all that sure if Josie did care but she would like to think that she did. She liked to think that one day, Josie would fight for her. That Josie would stick with her, through thick and thin, through the good and the bad, even when she would try to push her away. Penelope liked to think that Josie was the type of person who would stick around and for the first time in what felt like forever, she allowed herself to hope.


	3. This Was Going To Be Interesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive at camp and get sorted into their cabins. Everybody gets a bit of a shock when Josie doesn't get paired up with her sister and Penelope doesn't get paired up with Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have plans for today but I wanted to make sure that I still put something out so I split up this chapter into two which is why this one is a bit shorter, sorry about that.

About an hour into the bus ride, Penelope looked up to see a sleeping Josie. Josie looked so peaceful at that moment and it gave Penelope pause for thought. 

Maybe, just maybe, Josie would be the one to tear down her walls. And maybe, she didn't really mind because all someone had to do to really get to know the real her was care. 

Penelope desperately wanted someone to care enough to try and get to know her, for someone to see through her bitchy exterior whenever they would pry into her personal life and see that all that she was hiding was a scared young teenage girl, terrified of rejection and commitment.

She wasn't all that sure if Josie did care but she would like to think that she did. She liked to think that one day, Josie would fight for her. That Josie would stick with her, through thick and thin, through the good and the bad, even when she would try to push her away. Penelope liked to think that Josie was the type of person who would stick around and for the first time in what felt like forever, she allowed herself to hope.

Penelope hadn't realized she had been staring at the brunette for because just then, the camp instructor shouted that they were 5 minutes away and to pack up there things.

She looked back down at the sleeping girl and begrudgingly shook her awake. 

Once Josie stirred, she looked up, a little dazed, and took out her headphones, a little confused as to why Penelope woke her. Were they there already?

"Five more minutes," Penelope said, answering her silent question, "I thought I should give you some tie to wake up."

Josie nodded and muttered a quick 'thanks' under her breath. She liked this side of Penelope, this sweet and caring side, it was just a shame that she would never get to spend time with her.

Josie wondered to herself why Penelope never let anybody see this side of her, it was a completely different person from the girl she thought she knew. Actually, come to think about it, Josie never knew Penelope. She had always just assumed that she was a cold-hearted bitch and be done with it but now she was questioning the one thing she thought she knew about her. Because aside from that, Josie didn't know the first thing about the girl. What did she do in her free time? What did her parents do? Where was she from? Even these little things, Josie hadn't the slightest clue and she wasn't all that sure whether any of Penelope's friends did either.

__

As they collected their luggage from the bottom of the bus, they heard some of the camp co-ordinators calling instructions over to them. They weren't that large of a grade, only about a hundred students in total so organizing them really wasn't that hard.

When they all arrived in the main hall, they all took seats at the surrounding tables, awaiting further instruction. Most students tended to tune out this entire welcoming process because they knew that the information would get repeated later on, they were all just looking forward to finding out who they were all rooming with.

The instructors seemed to notice that nobody was really paying attention and they speeded up their process, finally finishing and telling them to split up into girls and boys, that way it would be easier for them to organize the rooms.

Josie trotted out of the main hall into a courtyard with the rest of the girls why the boys stayed behind. The instructor began calling up pairs of students and handing them a colored key corresponding to which cabin they would be taking. 

One by one, each pair walked off and took their keys until there were only 4 people left. Penelope Park, Josette Saltzman, Elizebeth Saltzman, and Hope Mikaelson.

"Okay, tow last rooms," The instructor called, Josie and Lizzie slowly started inching towards each other, ready to walk up and collect their key, "Elizabeth Saltzman and Hope Mikaelson, you got the Orange cabin and Josette Saltzman and Penelope Park you've got the Red one."

All of their ears were ringing, and each set of eyes from the four girls had popped out of their heads. They all just stood there, shell-shocked until the instructor gave them a questioning look and Lizzie spoke up.

"Uh... can you maybe say that again?" Lizzie asked, sure that she must have heard the instructor wrong.

"Sure, Hope Mikaleson and Elizabeth Saltzman, Orange cabin, Josette Saltzman and Penelope Park, Red cabin."

The instructor didn't seem to be able to read their expressions and gave them a confused look when nobody said a word. Surprisingly, this time, it was Josie who spoke up.

"Can I just read that quickly?" She asked, walking up to the instructor.

He nodded, still looking a little confused at this sudden change in demeanor around the four girls. 

"Is something wrong?" He asked, but the girl reading the room chart shook her head, her eyes still popping out of her head.

Josie looked up at Penelope, Hope, and Lizzie giving her a questioning look and only shrugged, letting them know that the instructor had read it right. She was rooming with Penelope and Hope was rooming with Lizzie. She didn't really know how this had happened but she knew there was also nothing that she could do about it.

She took the Red key from the instructor, muttered a quick thank you, and motioned for Penelope to follow her as she started walking towards their cabin. Eventually, Hope and Lizzie followed suit.

Lizzie and Hope's cabin came up first and they waved goodbye to the pair as they went into their room. Lizzie and Josie both exchanged a look at the separation, telling each other that 'this was going to be a strange camp'.

"We're going to be paired with them for the activities right?" Penelope asked her, "And then with the boys from their Red and Orange cabin right? I think that's how it works."

"Uh, yeah, that's how it works," she managed to get out, still not quite used to somebody of Penelope's authority treating her with anything but open hostility.

They walked into the room and each chose a respective bed. Josie got the one on the left and Penelope got the one on the right. They put their stuff down and took a look around the small cabin. 

Excluding the bed's there really wasn't much in the main room, there really wasn't much space for it either. There were two bedside tables on the outer side of each of the singles, a wardrobe, and a desk on Penelope's side and a bathroom on Josie's.

"Cozy," she heard Penelope say as she flopped down on the bed.

"We're supposed to be unpacking Penelope," Josie said, a hint of teasing behind her voice, "Sleep later, we only have half an hour until lunch."

"Easy for you to say," Penelope replied jokingly, "You slept for like an hour on the bus."

Josie only scoffed as she moved to unpack her bag, she found herself actually enjoying this banter that the two of them exchanged. This was definitely going to be an interesting camp.


	4. The Literal Death Of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope and Josie spend the first day of camp together occasionally accompanied by Hope and Lizzie. 
> 
> And let the awkward icebreakers ensue!

After Penelope and Josie arrived in their cabin, Josie heard Penelope mutter 'cozy' under her breath as she plopped down onto the bed.

Josie then proceeded to reprimand her for it.

"We're supposed to be unpacking Penelope," Josie said, a hint of teasing behind her voice, "Sleep later, we only have half an hour until lunch."

"Easy for you to say," Penelope replied jokingly, "You slept for like an hour on the bus."

Josie only scoffed as she moved to unpack her bag, she found herself actually enjoying this banter that the two of them exchanged. This was definitely going to be an interesting camp.

Eventually, Penelope mirrored her actions and got up from her bed to start unpacking as well. 

"Any clue what we'll be doing after lunch?" Penelope asked in a casual tone.

"You would know if you had listened to the instructor," Josie teased shaking a finger in Penelope's direction.

"Yeah well-following orders isn't really my thing," Penelope replied, "This shouldn't be new information Josie, it's common knowledge."

"What?" Josie asked, "That you never listen? That you never pay attention in class and you don't care about grades?" Penelope only nodded in response. "Well, I know for a fact I saw your face light up when you found out we were doing cruel beauty in English."

Josie was merely teasing because she didn't actually know this for a fact. What she saw was Penelope's face light up when the teacher had told them this, not that she was actually listening to the teacher and not in her own side conversation, but Josie liked to think that Penelope was secretly a nerd. It gave her a few laughs.

"It's a good book," Penelope mumbled under her breath leaving Josie stifling a laugh. It was true, a book worm.

"I know that," Josie said, one eyebrow raised, "I just didn't expect **you** to."

__

The two of them continued to exchange witty banter up until Hope and Lizzie caught up with them on their walk along with the cabins towards lunch.

They made casual small talk and Josie found it a little strange that neither Penelope and Hope seemed out of place. She didn't talk to Hope much and up until a week ago, she didn't talk to Penelope either. She also knew that Lizzie didn't talk to either of them and as far as she knew, Penelope and Hope hadn't talked much either. 

But somehow, they seemed to mold together quite well. At first Hope and Lizzie were both shocked at how different Penelope acted when she wasn't around her friends but they seemed to warm up to her a bit. She wasn't quite as open as she was with Josie however. Around Josie, she had her walls up but she still seemed to be a bit more herself. Around Hope and Lizzie, she was still all snark but with no bite, similar to the witty banter Penelope had shared with her but a little less personal.

The four of them arrived at dinner and sat down at a table together. Their two cabins would be pared together for the whole camp as well as the boys from their corresponding orange and red cabins and for the first day of each camp since grade 6, they are literally supposed to be attached at the hip.

They noticed a few of Penelope's friends shoot them death glares for stealing Penelope from them.

"Don't mind them," Penelope whispered to them, not wanting her friends to hear, "They're just annoyed that I'm not with them and got grouped with you guys."

"How'd that happen anyway?" Josie asked curiously.

"Well, I know how **I** ended up in this group." Penelope responded, "I got caught skipping classes for the fourth time this semester which would normally be cause for suspension but around this time of year I think they just take people out of their normal 'clique's' and pair them with Hope."

"But as for how I got paired with Josie instead of Hope and how Hope got paired with Lizzie," She added, "Honestly, zero clue."

They were all still getting used to Penelope's signature smirk and air of arrogance missing from her as they sat together. It was rather strange to talk to someone other than the full-on bitch version of Penelope. Honestly, it was rather unnerving.

The rest of the lunch followed in a similar suit. Conversation flowed easily enough between all of them but they all noticed Penelope duck out of it whenever it got just the tiniest bit personal. At the hint of a question directed towards her, Penelope would start shoveling food like there was no tomorrow.

__

They all split up into their separate groups to meet their instructors after lunch as well as the rest of their group mates. The four of them were pleasantly surprised but the boys in their group, they seriously lucked out on this trip. They got Kaleb and MG (from the red cabin) as well as Landon and Rafael from the (from the orange cabin).

If Penelope were with her friends, they would complain because they didn't have any of the jocks the likes of Connor in their group but as the only sensible one in their clique (or the only one who wasn't into guys - not that they knew that) could see that he was a dickhead and would much rather stick with the people she's got.

"Hi guys!" Their instructor said a little too enthusiastically for their liking, "I'm Daniel Boshoff but you can call me Dan!"

There was a bright smile on his face not all that dissimilar to the one a primary school teacher normally wore.

"I thought we could do some icebreakers! I know you guys probably know each other quite well but I don't know any of you and I thought it would be fun."

Penelope sighed. _Icebreakers. Great. The literal death of me._

Penelope always struggled with icebreakers, she never knew what to say. She didn't want to say anything too personal but never wanted to be too generic either because that was not the Penelope Parkway of doing things.

"So, we'll just go around and introduce ourselves. Say your name, where you're from, and something interesting about yourself. Sound good?" 

They all nodded, much less excitable than _Dan_ but he didn't seem to notice or care.

"So I'll start shall I?" When he got no response, he chose to go on, "I'm Dan, as you know. I'm from Canada but I moved here when I graduated to go to college. And when I've always wanted to do professional surfing. Okay... Umm... How about you go next and then we'll just go in a circle?" He asked, motioning towards MG.

After MG went, they just continued. It was Landon next, then Rafael, Kaleb, and then came Hope.

Similar to Penelope, nobody really seemed to know much about Hope but she didn't really seem to care much about sharing personal information, it was just that she was the lone wolf and liked it that way.

Finally, it was Penelope's turn. They all stared expectantly at her, none of them even knew the first thing about her so this would be interesting.

"I'm Penelope Park. I um," Penelope trailed off a bit, not many people even knew where she was from and even revealing that little piece of information scared her, but she took a deep breath and continued, "I was born in London and moved to the US when I was 6 months old and moved around every 2 years, but my father's from California and my mom's half Belgian and half Italian. And uh..." She was seriously trying to figure out what to say about herself but was coming up empty until her mind landed on languages, "And I'm fluent in Dutch, French, and German which are the native languages of Belgium as well as Italian and English of course."

Everyone stared up in shock at her. Apparently ice-breakers did work after all because none of them knew any of this and were all confident that nobody else did either.

"Wow, 5 languaged huh?" Dan asked and she only nodded in response, keeping her head down, "Cool! So now, I got all your names and I know a bit about you, how about we get onto the activities for this week!"

He pretty much just spent another hour and a half rambling about the activities that they were going to do and it got pretty boring so they all just kind of zoned out until it was around 4 pm. 

"So, now you can go back to your cabin's until 6 pm and then meet back here." 

At that, they all practically ran out of there, despite the fact that they had all been half asleep a second ago.

__

"Was it true that you're fluent in 5 languages?" Josie asked her as she closed the door behind her as they walked into their cabin.

"Yup."

"Can I hear some?" She asked curiously.

"Sure... Uh..." Penelope was struggling to think of something to say when her mind landed on a German poem that she liked.

"Es liegt der heiße Sommer

Auf deinen Wängelein;

Es liegt der Winter, der kalte,

In deinem Herzchen klein.

Das wird sich bei dir ändern,

Du Vielgeliebte mein!

Der Winter wird auf den Wangen,

Der Sommer im Herzen sein."

"It's a German Poem about the seasons," Penelope explained, "it means, 'There lies the heat of summer, on your cheek’s lovely art: There lies the cold of winter, within your little heart. That will change, beloved, The end not as the start! Winter on your cheek then, Summer in your heart. I think it was written by Heinrich Heine."

Josie just looked up at her in shock. Yet again her suspicions were confirmed. Penelope is a secret nerd! There was no way she could recite a poem word for word, even in English.

The two of them spent to rest of the two hours freshening up. They each took a shower, got changed, and both ended up taking it in turns to nap.

At ten to six, Josie shook Penelope awake, letting her know that they had to leave soon so that she could re-do her hair which was slightly messed up from her little nap.

She didn't want to wake her because Penelope looked so peaceful when she was asleep like she was a child with the perfect life ahead of her. Penelope even had this cute little smile on her face when she was sleeping and Josie just simply couldn't tear her eyes away from it. 

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, as was their dinner. They ate it out by the lake seeing as it was the first night. That allowed Penelope to be stollen by Sasha and allowed Hope to go to a tree stump and eat her dinner in peace. Lizzie and Josie talked a bit but mostly just admired the view until it finally reached 9 pm and they were told to go back to their cabin's. 

Penelope was already waiting for Josie on the steps to their cabin when she made her own way back, seeing as Josie was the one with the keys.

Penelope smiled up at her when she got there and they walked into the cabin. 

"How was your dinner?" Josie asked.

"I'm assuming you mean the company because we all had the same crappy food?" Penelope only snickered as Josie rolled her eyes and nodded, "Fine I guess, too much drama about who's cheating on who. I forget who is actually dating who. I mean honestly, you've heard of love triangles? What we've got going on here is a fucking dodecahedron."

Josie just laughed loudly at that, "That's why I don't hang out with that crowd, too many opportunities for heartbreak."

"Agreed. Anyways, how was your dinner? You were with Lizzie right?"

"Yeah, we didn't talk much, just looked at the view."

"I actually kinda forget she's your sister sometimes, you two never hang out at school," Penelope said, mildly curious about how the relationship worked between the twins.

"Well, I'm not the biggest fan of her friends so I don't really stick with her around school. She might have a weird way of showing it but she is a good sister you know, it might not seem like she cares but I know she does." Josie paused for thought, choosing her next words carefully, "I mean she was the most supportive of my entire family when I came out to them as Pansexual."

Penelope practically chocked on air at that moment and was glad that her back was turned towards Josie at that moment. She had no clue that Josie was into girls.

"Mhmm," Penelope hummed, "I wish my family were more like that."

Penelope didn't realize that she was going to say what she said next until the words just fell out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"I don't think my mom's looked me in the eyes since I was fourteen. Neither has my dad but I haven't seen him for like a year so I don't even know anymore."

The second the words fell from her mouth, she regretted them. She saw the features of Josie's face take up an appearance of shock and was sure that her own face must be mirroring the same look. 

She hadn't meant to say that. She wasn't supposed to say that. Nobody knew that. Nobody knew how shitty her life was but now Josie did.

She panicked.

Every rational thought just went out the window.

Her brain told her to leave. She left.

Her brain told her to run away. She ran away.

She broke curfew and ran right out the door. Ignoring Josie's calls behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lil bit of angst never hurt anybody right?


	5. Hope Is A Dangerous Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope avoided Josie as well as Hope and Lizzie. She barely says a word the whole day until Josie confronts her.

"I mean she was the most supportive of my entire family when I came out to them as Pansexual."

Penelope practically chocked on air at that moment and was glad that her back was turned towards Josie at that moment. She had no clue that Josie was into girls.

"Mhmm," Penelope hummed, "I wish my family were more like that."

Penelope didn't realize that she was going to say what she said next until the words just fell out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"I don't think my mom's looked me in the eyes since I was fourteen. Neither has my dad but I haven't seen him for like a year so I don't even know anymore."

The second the words fell from her mouth, she regretted them. She saw the features of Josie's face take up an appearance of shock and was sure that her own face must be mirroring the same look. 

She hadn't meant to say that. She wasn't supposed to say that. Nobody knew that. Nobody knew how shitty her life was but now Josie did.

She panicked.

Every rational thought just went out the window.

Her brain told her to leave. She left.

Her brain told her to run away. She ran away.

She broke curfew and ran right out the door. Ignoring Josie's calls behind her.

__

Josie was left thoroughly confused when Penelope left the cabin. Well ran from it actually. But now she was slowly starting to put to pieces together.

Penelope wasn't a very open person. Actually, she wasn't an open person full stop. It wasn't even common knowledge that she wasn't born in America until this morning. Penelope was the 'it' girl at school and yet nobody knew anything about her, not even her closest friends.

Most of the time, Josie would just take this as someone going for the mysterious hot girl vibe, but that was not the vibe Penelope was giving, the sheer panic on her face when she told Josie on her parents was evidence enough for that.

All she had done was tell Josie that her parents were negligent. She still knew barely anything about apart from the fact that Penelope had a shitty family life and seeing that was enough for Penelope to panic the was she did honestly broke Josie's heart

She wasn't really sure what to do here. Penelope was a puzzle that she couldn't solve, someone who needed help but wasn't reaching out for it and henceforth, could not get it.

After stewing in her own thoughts for nearly ten minutes, she decided to give Penelope the space she wanted. At least for now.

Josie got changed and got ready for bed so that once Penelope got back, she would be fast asleep and Penelope wouldn't have to talk to her.

__

Penelope had made it all the way to the lake and into the woods and found that little clearing where she and her friends had eaten dinner. She managed, even in her dazed state, to find that bottles of alcohol that Sasha and Connor had stashed away in the roots of one of the trees.

It was too dark to tell apart the beer fro the wine, the whiskey from the rum, so she just went with the closest thing to her.

She sat down on a little tree stump and took a swig from her bottle and found out it was whiskey. It burned all the way down her throat. And it hurt too. But she wanted to feel the hurt. She didn't want to remember.

She internally cursed herself for having hope. She knew that it was a dangerous thing and yet she still held out. She still held out hope that maybe this time would be different. That maybe this time, she would be able to open up. but she had been stupid. There was no way Josie was going to stay, no way she was going to tear down her walls, who had she been kidding?

She spent another few hours there, drinking her heart out until she made it through the entire bottle of whiskey. She looked down at her watch as it beeped '12 o'clock' and decided to head back. Josie was surely asleep by now.

She felt like shit as she stumbled back to the cabin, she found it unlocked when she turned the handle. Josie probably didn't want to be woken when she returned.

She had been right, Josie was fast asleep. At least she would have until tomorrow before Josie confronted her about running away.

She went to the bathroom to fix herself up a bit, using mouthwash to wash away the smell of alcohol from her breath. With the amount of alcohol she had drunk, most people would have a hell of a hangover the next day, she however was the opposite of a lightweight and would probably just have a mild headache, one that would be cured by antibiotics. 

She did know that she would look like shit though, not being a lightweight wouldn't change that and no amount of makeup would be able to cover it up. At least she wouldn't be spending the day with her friends who would have questioned her for it.

__

The next morning, they both got ready in silence. An extremely uncomfortable silence. One that Josie was dying to break but Penelope was praying she wouldn't. 

They left the cabin in silence too. They hadn't said a word to each other and Josie was still left wondering why Penelope got so freaked out over revealing what she had. She knew people had inner demons but she wanted to know what Penelope's were so that she could help her.

Lizzie and Hope both caught up to them on their way to breakfast, mumbled quick hi's, and good morning's. Josie responded to both, Penelope however, kept her head down and didn't say a word, only nodded. Lizzie and Hope both gave each other a weird look when Penelope didn't respond but chose not to question it.

Everyone sat down for breakfast and ate. Penelope still sat in near silence, mumbling a few words here and there but never really being a part of the conversation. Eventually, she went to the bathroom, leaving Hope, Lizzie, and Josie alone.

"What's up with her?" Hope asked in a kind voice.

Lizzie on the other hand wasn't as kind, "Yeah, she looks like shit!"

Josie rolled her eyes at Lizzie and directed her answer at Hope.

"I'm not really sure how much I can say," She said, "Truth be told I don't really know either. we were talking last night, she said something, panicked and ran out the door. And judging by the bags under her eyes, I'm guessing she got drunk too."

Hope just nodded, not wanting to push for information that Josie can't share.

"Wait, what did she say? Also, where did she get the alcohol?" 

"Not my place to tell you," Josie responded in a stern voice, giving Lizzie a bit of a glare, "And how the hell would I know where she got the alcohol? She left remember? it wasn't like she was drinking in our room."

Lizzie finally accepted it and slid back in her chair.

The thing that left the two of them - Hope and Lizzie - confused was that this was a whole new version of Penelope. Not the Penelope they knew from school and not the one they knew yesterday. She was kind of acting like Hope on crack. Not interacting or talking to anyone.

They didn't see Penelope for the rest of the breakfast. And throughout the rest of the day, the only hints of the normal Penelope were whenever she would make fun of one of the boys, or give a snarky response to the instructor. The only times she talked, she was bitchy Penelope again and was inwardly cursing herself for it.

__

Penelope kept distancing herself from everybody, through all of their activities and though all of their meals. She said a few snarky comments here and there but was silent for the most part.

But then after dinner, she was left alone with Josie in their cabin. She would have been happy with another night of silence but apparently Josie had enough.

"Listen, I know I don't know you all that well and you don't know me," Josie started in a tentative voice, "but you **can** talk to me. You know that right?"

Penelope didn't dignify that with a response. Not even a nod or a shake of the head. She just continued getting her clothes for the following day ready and setting them down on the table. After a few minutes, Josie tried again.

"Why are you so afraid of opening up?" Josie asked, successfully keeping the frustration and mingled pity from her voice.

"I'm not afraid," Penelope said, still not looking at Josie, and because she was looking the other way, she didn't see Josie hop off of her bed and start to make her way over.

"Well that's a lie," Josie said, making Penelope jump at how much closer she was, "You are."

Penelope took a deep breath before managing to get out, "Leave me alone." her voice was shaky and it made her seem weak. She hated it.

"No." 

That was all Josie said. ' _No_ '. The word reverberated inside her head for a full minute before Josie spoke up again, Penelope still staring determinately at the wall.

"Talk to me." She said softly. So softly, Penelope's eyes began to water and she desperately tried to fight back the tears.

"No, just leave me alone." In her current state, the words sounded angry but Josie looked past that and saw right through her. 

"Penelope-" Josie started in a comforting voice before she was cut off.

"No!" Penelope yelled, spinning around to face Josie, pointing a finger at her, "Stop. I don't need your help!"

Penelope felt stupid. Why was she crying? She had no reason to be crying! She must look so weak, tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes puffy and red, she hated it.

Josie put a hand on Penelope's shoulder but it was slapped away, hard. It stung a bit but Josie wasn't going to let Penelope push her away. 

"Go!" Penelope yelled, her voice still shaky.

"No." Josie responded calmly.

"Leave!" She yelled again, this time, physically pushing Josie away.

Josie stumbled back but held her ground. 

"No." Her voice was firm.

Penelope knew this would happen. She knew she wouldn't be able to open up because any time somebody got too close, she would break and they wouldn't stick around to see her fall apart.

This was the moment that Josie would walk away. It was the moment everybody walked away. When Dani walked away, when Lauren walked away, when one after the other, at each and every school, this was the point where they would give up on her, deciding that they couldn't be bothered to put the effort in to get her to open up.

She had allowed herself to hope that maybe Josie would be the one to stay but really? Who would? Who would stay when Penelope told them to leave? When did she scream for them to leave her alone and forget about her? Who would stay to try and fix what was broken? Answer; nobody. No one ever stayed and she knew that Josie would be no different.

Hope was a dangerous thing. It kept her going but when misplaced it can be heartbreaking and after misplacing her hope time and mother fucking time again, she knew that despite wanting someone to stay by her side with every bone in her body, Josie would walk away.

But Josie didn't. Penelope kept yelling at her to go, physically pushing her away at times as the world started to blur, and through all of this, Josie never made a move to leave.

Josie wasn't walking away, even when Penelope told her to, Josie saw right through it. Josie did care. Josie cared enough to help her and understand her, instead of walking away.

Penelope had reached the point of no return, had reached the point where she could no longer find the strength to verbally or physically push Josie away and just started to sob. The sight broke Josie's heart. To see someone so seemingly put together fall apart before her eyes wasn't something she enjoyed watching.

She pulled Penelope into a bone-crushing hug, one that she knew Penelope wouldn't recoil from because she didn't have the strength to. Penelope's knees went weak as she fell to the floor in Josie's arms and still, the brunette didn't leave her, the brunette just brought the hug to the ground.

Josie wasn't going to leave. Maybe her hope hadn't been misplaced after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, in the next chapter, Penelope will talk out her issues :)


	6. A Little Happier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope and Josie have their 'talk'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear things up, Penelope is gay in the story rather than bi. It just made it a bit easier for the story line.

"Go!" Penelope yelled, her voice still shaky.

"No," Josie responded calmly.

"Leave!" She yelled again, this time, physically pushing Josie away.

Josie stumbled back but held her ground. 

"No." Her voice was firm.

Penelope knew this would happen. She knew she wouldn't be able to open up because any time somebody got too close, she would break and they wouldn't stick around to see her fall apart.

This was the moment that Josie would walk away. It was the moment everybody walked away. When Dani walked away, when Lauren walked away, when one after the other, at each and every school, this was the point where they would give up on her, deciding that they couldn't be bothered to put the effort in to get her to open up.

But Josie didn't. Penelope kept yelling at her to go, physically pushing her away at times as the world started to blur, and through all of this, Josie never made a move to leave.

She pulled Penelope into a bone-crushing hug, one that she knew Penelope wouldn't recoil from because she didn't have the strength to. Penelope's knees went weak as she fell to the floor in Josie's arms and still, the brunette didn't leave her, the brunette just brought the hug to the ground.

Josie wasn't going to leave. Maybe her hope hadn't been misplaced after all.

__

They stayed in that position for longer than Penelope would care to admit. it may have even been an hour before she could properly collect herself. And all throughout, Josie never once let go of her, and she never let go of Josie.

Josie didn't want to question Penelope about what was wrong until she had a hold of herself, but now she did, Josie spoke up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked kindly. She couldn't believe this was really happening. She was comforting **th** **e** Penelope Park? In what strange world?

"No," Penelope said simply. But right after, she took a deep breath, indicating to Josie that she had more to say, so the brunette didn't interject. "But I should."

Josie just nodded. They sat in silence for another few minutes before Josie spoke up again. 

"Do you want to move to the bed? My back's kinda hurting." The words weren't teasing, they were sincere.

"Oh uh yeah," Penelope managed, "And um... sorry about that."

Penelope stood up first seeing as she was practically in Josie's lap and she made her way over to her bed. Josie then got up too and joined her. She was rather surprised when Josie joined her, like in her actual bed instead of her own, but she welcomed the arm that Josie threw around her shoulder.

After a few more minutes of silence, Penelope reluctantly peeled herself away from the embrace and turned to face Josie.

"So I've never actually told anyone any of this," Penelope started, "I'm not very good at opening up."

"You don't say?" Josie teased, getting an eye roll from the raven-haired girl.

"Yeah, well, when I say I've told nobody this, I mean no one." Penelope paused for a second, mulling over her next words, "So if you repeat any of this, I will make your life a living hell."

The last words were punctuated with Penelope's usual air of superiority, but Josie knew that it was an empty threat. She knew that Penelope was just scared and that saying this would make her feel more comfortable opening up to her so she only nodded in response.

"So uh... like I said yesterday... I was born in London. I moved to the US 6 months after I was born and every two years I would move to a different state. My Dad's from California and my Mom is half Belgian, half Italian."

Josie just nodded, not really seeing how this was important but she supposed that Penelope would explain. 

"Um, we moved around because of my Dad's job in business. It took a lot out of us as a family and uh... my parents... they uh... When I was thirteen, my parents got a divorce." She finally managed to get out, she took a deep breath and continued, "It was ugly and they ended up having to go to court."

"They fought over a few little things but mostly it was about me. Figuring out who would get custody of me. By the time I turned fourteen, they hadn't come to a conclusion yet, but since I only had four years until I was legally an adult, they suggested that I would do two years with my father and two years with my mother."

Josie's heart broke for the girl in front of her.

"But umm... my parents still weren't very happy with it so they didn't take the offer. For the first few months, I was constantly moving between both their houses which was kind of difficult to hide from my friends but-"

"Why did you hide it from your friends?" Josie butted in.

Penelope stayed perfectly silent for a good thirty seconds before she answered, "I don't really know to be honest. I just didn't really want them knowing. Their lives seemed perfect and mine wasn't, I didn't want them to be better than me."

Josie accepted the answer and then gave Penelope a look that told her to keep going.

"Three months in, and I uh... I... They..." This was the hardest part by far. Did she trust Josie enough to tell her? She wasn't sure. But even if she didn't trust her, she knew that Josie wouldn't back down and she would end up having to tell her anyway so she just continued, averting her gaze from Josie's eyes for the first time.

"TheyfoundoutIwasgay." She spat out, Josie obviously hadn't understood by the look on her face, so she repeated herself, "They found out I was - well am - gay."

Josie's face lit up in shock at this information but she let Penelope continue. Now she had started, she couldn't stop.

"I was on a date with this girl I had met while out shopping. I was holding her hand outside of a coffee shop when my Dad found us. He literally dragged my ass home by my hair and asked me if I was 'a fa-' well you know... **That** word, and I asked him 'so what if I was?' and he just spat in my face."

Josie just stared up in shock at the girl. This was not what she had expected and it was far from the image of Penelope she held just a few short weeks ago.

"From that point on, my parent's custody turned from fighting over who got to have me, to who had to have me. Neither of them wanted me anymore so they were both trying to pawn me off to the other."

By this point, tears were welling up in her eyes again but she couldn't bring herself to cry so she fought them back.

"Eventually, my Mom got stuck with me because Dad moved around so much it would be more _inconvenient_ for him to have me. Since then, my Mom barely talks to me. Or looks at me for that matter. And I haven't seen my Dad since a year ago when he was doing a business deal here and he stayed at our house. " Penelope scoffed before she added, "Only time my parents ever agreed on something. Their hatred of me."

Penelope's scoff had turned into a quiet sob that she tried to hide but was unsuccessful, silent tears streaming down her face as she continued.

"Then, my _friends_ found out what was happening and why and ditched me too. I was never really open as a kid but after that, I never let myself get close to anyone ever again."

Just when Josie thought that Penelope was done, there was more.

"All of it seriously fucked me up. I struggled with mental health ever since. I have um... anxiety, and depression, and insomnia. But I don't really know that for sure, it's more of a self-diagnosis." Penelope looked a little guilty as she said the next part but did so looking Josie straight in the eyes, a determined look on her face, "I never got help because my parents made me feel like I wasn't worth it. Like I deserved what was coming to me."

"You don't," Josie said firmly, eyes never leaving Penelope's.

"Don't I?" She questioned, scoffing, "I treat everybody like shit. I always go to a new school with the _intention_ of being nice but every time I get too scared and I turn into... well... I turn into Penelope Park."

"You mean the head bitch of the school that everyone not part of your social status hates?" Josie questioned. Penelope only nodded.

"Yeah, well that's not you." She said simply. Penelope actually looked shocked when Josie said it, surprised by the kindness behind the tone of voice and that Josie didn't hate her. It was only really sinking in now that she had told Josie her whole life story.

"I know that now," Josie continued, "I mean I've heard of inner demons but damn!" Penelope chuckled a bit at those last words and gave Josie a questioning look.

"So you don't hate me then?" She asked softly.

"I don't hate you," Josie agreed, "Do any of your friends know any of this?" She asked.

"No. And to be honest, their not really my friends," Josie shot her a confused look so she continued, "I mean whenever I moved and started a new school, someone would try to get to know me and my walls just went right up. I turned into a straight-up bitch and that kinda just landed me with that crowd."

"Oddly self-aware," Josie joked, learning a chuckle from Penelope.

"Listen, Penelope, it took you a whole of one conversation with me in science class to get me questioning everything I knew about you. It took one conversation on the bus to get me to like you as a person, as in a genuine person, not the girl I thought I knew. And it took one day at camp for me to decide that I wanted to get to know you. The real you. The one I joked with about 'Cruel Beauty' and the one who recited a freaking German poem word for word to me."

The tears still falling from Penelope's face were intensified. She was sobbing but she also wore the dopiest smile Josie had ever seen on her face. She felt so genuinely content with life but so overwhelmed with emotion and Penelope wasn't sure what to do.

Josie once again took the lead and started hugging her again whilst she still wore her dopey smile and her chest heaved with the strength of her gut-wrenching sobs, and they stayed that way for nearly ten minutes until Penelope calmed down.

They both smiled at each other before standing up and started getting ready for bed. A silent agreement passed between the two of them as Josie got changed in the bathroom and Penelope changed outside. Eventually, Penelope joined her so that they could both brush their teeth. 

When they finished, Josie spoke up, her voice teasing, "Okay, so now that I know you're gay, tell me more about your story."

"What do you wanna know?" Penelope asked with a hint of flirt behind her voice.

"Well... Uh... how did you know? Any gay panic moments? Because I had a hell of a lot of those. Ooooh, and what's you're type!!" Penelope wore a slight smirk at Josie's excitement so the brunette hastened to explain, "Sorry, the only other person I could talk to about this would be Hope but she's Hope so that's a no go."

"Wait!" Penelope shouted, shock covering her face, "Hope's gay!? Jeez, my gaydar's gone a bit rusty."

Josie just laughed, "Hope's bisexual. Not many people know but she's open about it. I mean do you see how much flannel the girl wears? Not exactly rocket science Penelope."

"So she likes boys and girl and she's **still** alone?" Penelope questioned, "Honey, she's not Bisexual, she's by her self." Penelope suddenly what she said and hastened to apologize, "Sorry Sorry. It just kinda slipped out!"

But Josie was just laughing, she liked this version of Penelope. She was fun and funny, and flirty. And Josie liked it.

"It just slipped out?" Josie joked, smirking at Penelope, "Is that response just ingrained into your mind?"

Penelope laughed, "Honestly? Yes. I watch too much drag race. "Josie shot her a questioning look and Penelope continued, "Literally last week, my mom, MY FREAKING MOM, asked me 'how's your head' after I hit it on a cabinet and I instantly responded with 'haven't had any complaints'."

Josie straight up guffawed at that and Penelope shot her a smile before joining in with her laughter. She felt like a weight had been taken off of her chest after talking to Josie. It felt like there was no longer a dark cloud hovering right over her head. She felt a little freer. A little happier.


	7. You Fell For Me After All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie and Penelope grow closer. And flirter.

"Listen, Penelope, it took you a whole of one conversation with me in science class to get me questioning everything I knew about you. It took one conversation on the bus to get me to like you as a person, as in a genuine person, not the girl I thought I knew. And it took one day at camp for me to decide that I wanted to get to know you. The real you. The one I joked with about 'Cruel Beauty' and the one who recited a freaking German poem word for word to me."

The tears still falling from Penelope's face were intensified. She was sobbing but she also wore the dopiest smile Josie had ever seen on her face. She felt so genuinely content with life but so overwhelmed with emotion and Penelope wasn't sure what to do.

Josie once again took the lead and started hugging her again whilst she still wore her dopey smile and her chest heaved with the strength of her gut-wrenching sobs, and they stayed that way for nearly ten minutes until Penelope calmed down.

And things went back to normal. Or whatever the hell normal was between the two of them.

"What do you wanna know?" Penelope asked with a hint of flirt behind her voice when Josie asked about her 'story'.

"Well... Uh... how did you know? Any gay panic moments? Because I had a hell of a lot of those. Ooooh, and what's you're type!!" Penelope wore a slight smirk at Josie's excitement so the brunette hastened to explain, "Sorry, the only other person I could talk to about this would be Hope but she's Hope so that's a no go."

"Wait!" Penelope shouted, shock covering her face, "Hope's gay!? Jeez, my gaydar's gone a bit rusty."

They just joked and laughed for the rest of the night. They ended up in Josie's bed, cuddling as they fell asleep. Neither of them said anything about it beforehand, it just kind of happened, though neither of them seemed to mind.

__

The following morning, Penelope woke up warm in someone's arms and instantly panicked. Then she looked over at Josie and breathed a sigh of relief. A grin spread across her face.

She thought that they should probably get up because she could see light shining through the windows, but nobody had knocked on their door yet so she looked down to check her watch and it still read 7 o'clock. They had another 30 minutes.

Penelope didn't go back to sleep. She just stayed there in the comfort of Josie's arms. She couldn't actually see Josie's face from her position and didn't want to move in case she woke the sleeping girl which was a shame because Josie looked so cute when she slept.

The thirty minutes flew by in Penelope's opinion. It felt like seconds between when she woke up and when the camp instructor came knocking on their door.

Josie woke immediately and had this cute little dazed look on her face when she felt someone in her arms. But as soon as she opened her eyes, she found Penelope and she smiled. 

Penelope peeled herself away from her to go answer the door, and when she turned back around, Josie was already in the closet, getting her clothes.

The two of them shared small talk until they walked out the door. They found themselves a little late so when they arrived, Hope and Lizzie were already sitting there. Josie had been so caught up with Penelope that she forgot to ask her sister how rooming with Hope was going. They seemed to be getting quite friendly.

The two sitting at the table looked up at them and waved. Penelope and Josie both smiled and waved back, saying a few quick 'good morning's' leaving Hope and Lizzie utterly confused at yet another change in Penelope's demeanor. She was a strange person.

Penelope took a close look at Hope as she sat down, and found her to be wearing jeans, a white undershirt, and red flannel. She and Josie shared a look before laughing.

"I told you, Penelope!" Josie whisper-yelled into her ear, "I don't think I've ever seen Hope in anything but flannel."

Penelope laughed, "Wearing flannel doesn't automatically make you gay... or bi for that matter," She shot back with a smirk.

"Fair point," Josie nodded, "But when you combine that with the fact that Hope hates softball and yet goes to watch every single practice and goes to every single game, it definitely does!"

Penelope tried to hold back a snort but was unsuccessful. Hope and Lizzie threw them a strange look but they both just laughed. Sasha and the rest of Penelope's friends also shot them a strange look at how openly Penelope was laughing and how genuinely happy she looked but they paid the group no mind.

"Why softball? Why not football or Basketball?" Penelope questioned, still in a hushed whisper. She was genuinely curious.

"Because Penelope," Josie said as if stating the obvious, "Half the players are gay, you idiot!"

"Really?" She questioned, a little surprised.

"Yes! Oh my god Penelope, do you not know anything about gay culture?" Josie questioned, a hint of a smirk behind her smile.

"Rude!" Penelope shouted - well whispered - back.

The two just continued their banter through the meal. And through the day too. 

They slowly got flirtier and flirtier to the point where even the boys were starting to pick up on it. Obviously Hope and Lizzie picked up on it instantly, but they put that down to Hope being bi and Lizzie being her twin. Neither of them seemed to care though, they were just in their own little bubble and they loved it.

__

That night, after Penelope and Josie left Hope and Lizzie, the pair walked into their cabin.

"Do you think Penelope knows she's got like, the biggest crush of all time on Josie?" Lizzie asked Hope.

Hope just snorted, "Who knows? I mean the two never even talked before the camp right?"

"Yeah, well I didn't even know Penelope was into girls before this camp either... so..." Lizzie said suggestively.

"We don't even know if that's even true." Hope shot back laughing.

"Oh, the heart eyes 'satan' throws my sister would say otherwise," Lizzie pointed out.

"Mmmm, fair point," Hope agreed and Lizzie just laughed. They were becoming friends and Hope didn't mind it. For once, not being the lone wolf was actually enjoyable.

__

On day number four, Penelope and Josie somehow managed to get flirtier. They talked more and got steadily flirtier and flirtier. There was no doubt in either of their minds that they liked the other. Despite what Hope and Lizzie might think, they weren't clueless.

They even got called out for talking by the instructor for their flirting. They had the audacity to laugh too when he walked away too, giggling about it to themselves.

And when night came around, they cuddled again in Josie's bed as they drifted off into sleep. Josie's mind slightly occupied by their conversations during the day.

_"So you've read pride and prejudice too?" Josie poked, "You're more of a nerd then I thought you were!"_

_"I am not a nerd!" Penelope shot back, her brows scrunched in a cute little pout._

_"Uh, yes you are!" Josie giggled, "You're reaction alone to me calling you a nerd speaks volumes Penelope. As does that cute little pout you've got going on there." She added the last bit as an after thought but internally hi-fived herself when she watched Penelope's cheeks heat up._

_"I am not cute!" Penelope protested, "I am hot!"_

_But Josie only giggled, Penelope looked like the least threatening person she had ever seen in that moment. And simultaneously the cutest. Was she hot? Yes! Obviously Penelope was hot. But she was also adorable, standing there, a good three inches shorter than Josie._

_"You look like a cute little bunny right now," Josie chuckled, watching Penelope's cheeks somehow go even redder, "And the more you argue the cuter you get so don't even try."_

_Penelope just looked adorably frustrated and Josie's heart leaped out of her chest. She was a goner._

Penelope too was thinking back on the day, a smile on her face as she did so.

_They were on their waterfall hike after lunch and Josie missed the footing against the rock and slipped. She fell backwards, right into Penelope who somehow managed to catch her._

_Penelope smiled down at Josie with a little mischievous grin on her face. Josie felt the places where Penelope's hands held her burn._

_"_ _Now would you look at that?" Penelope said, smirking, "you fell for me after all."_

_Josie went an impossible shade of crimson red and just sputtered, not really having a good come back for that one. She didn't like giving Penelope the upper hand because it made Penelope so smug. So instead she made a plan._

_Just as they neared the waterfall, Josie slightly nudged Penelope who was standing next to her. Similar to how Josie had done half an hour ago, Penelope lost her footing and fell. Josie was ready for in and instantly caught her, a suggestive smile on her face._

_"I's say you were the one that fell for me." Josie pointed out, head directly above hers. Penelope's eyes went wide and Josie just kept laughing at her. Penelope blushed a little and then pulled herself back up, muttering a few 'whatever's' under her breath in Josie's direction to which the brunette only laughed at._

Penelope lay there on her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about how close their faces had been when Josie caught her. If she had wanted to, she would only have had to move her head an inch up and their lips would have met. She could have kissed Josie.

She let the image infiltrate her mind and she no longer felt very tired. It took her nearly two hours to fall asleep even though Josie fell asleep within minutes. The scene kept replaying in her mind and she never wanted to forget it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave ur comments I really like reading them :)


	8. You're Trying To Kill Me, Aren't You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the last day of their camp and it's a tradition for them to go swimming in the lake.

On day number four, Penelope and Josie somehow managed to get flirtier. They talked more and got steadily flirtier and flirtier. There was no doubt in either of their minds that they liked the other. Despite what Hope and Lizzie might think, they weren't clueless.

They even got called out for talking by the instructor for their flirting. They had the audacity to laugh too when he walked away, giggling about it to themselves.

And when night came around, they cuddled again in Josie's bed as they drifted off into sleep. Josie's mind slightly occupied by their conversations during the day. Penelope too was thinking back on the day, a smile on her face as she did so. 

One specific memory kept flashing before her eyes. 

It was one of their waterfall hikes. When Josie had pushed her and proceeded to catch her in her arms, saying 'it looks like you fell for me after all' as she did so.

Penelope lay there on her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about how close their faces had been when Josie caught her. If she had wanted to, she would only have had to move her head an inch up and their lips would have met. She could have kissed Josie.

She let the image infiltrate her mind and she no longer felt very tired. It took her nearly two hours to fall asleep even though Josie fell asleep within minutes. The scene kept replaying in her mind and she never wanted to forget it.

__

They both woke the next morning in each other's arms when someone banged on their door but they were so comfortable neither wanted to get up. So the instructor at the door was left there knocking on the door for nearly a full minute before Penelope caved and got up to answer the door.

They had one more day and night at the camp and would be going back home the following day. Truth be told, Penelope didn't want to go back. She became close to Josie and didn't have to deal with her 'friends' or her Mom. 

Penelope didn't really have anything good to go home to and was worried that as soon as they left the camp, she and Josie would fall apart. She was determined to make sure that wouldn't happen.

Penelope had known Josie for a whole semester and never quite grasped just how beautiful the brunette was. Not even the brunette herself knew it and that just made her more beautiful.

Yes, Penelope had always taken a liking to Josie throughout the time they had known each other but she never really knew the girl. She always felt drawn to Josie. There was just this little something about her that Penelope couldn't ignore. It was what led Penelope to tell her friends to stop harassing Josie. it was what led to them talking at all.

Penelope never knew what that little something was, but now she did. The more time she spent with Josie, the more she got to admire her. And now she knew it wasn't a 'little something' about the girl, it was every aspect of her. Every part of the brunette just drew Penelope in because as far as Penelope was concerned, Josie was perfect.

Josie's hair looked well done no matter what was done to it. It looked hot up, it looked beautiful when it was down in waves, it looked cute when it was straightened, it always looked good. And then there were her eyes. Her deep, chocolate brown eyes that deeply resembled an ocean despite being the entirely wrong color. Her eyes were a sea and every time she looked into them she felt like she was drowning underneath a wave of emotion.

She could just about love this girl.

But Josie wasn't just beautiful on the outside, she was beautiful on the inside too. Josie had it all.

Josie was smart, she was good in her classes, took meticulous notes, and studied hard for every single test. Josie was kind. She was selfless to a fault. When Penelope broke down, despite everything her little 'posse' had done to Josie over the years, Josie helped her and brought her back to the land of the living. Josie was funny. She made the dumbest puns, had the most idiotic pick-up lines, and one-liners but none of them ever failed to plaster a smile across Penelope's face. 

Josie too marveled at Penelope's beauty. Penelope was gorgeous, everybody knew this. Penelope was stunning. Plenty of boys had asked her out based on that fact alone, but now that Josie knew Penelope, really knew the girl, she couldn't help but fawn over her.

She was perfectly imperfect and Josie that loved about the girl. She saw herself as unworthy, not because of her looks - because despite what everybody might think, Penelope wasn't vain - but because of her insecurities. Her insecurities turned her into... Well, there's no nice way to put this... but they turned her into a bitch and Penelope knew it. But only if everybody else knew the reasons behind her bitchy-exterior, they would fall for the girl too. Who wouldn't? Who couldn't? Josie certainly could.

__

The day flew by too quickly for Penelope and Josie's liking. They both didn't want this to end. Neither of them knew, but they were both independently trying to work up the courage to ask out the other.

The entire day, Josie and Penelope were too caught up in each other and in their own thoughts to notice anything going on around them. They didn't notice Landon and Rafael's many flirting attempts towards the two. It wasn't that they were being rude about it, they just simply didn't notice that they were flirting. Half the time they didn't even notice that the boys were talking.

They did notice the looks that Hope and Lizzie would throw each other at their shameless flirting and drooling. But they failed to notice what lay behind those not-so-secretive looks that they thew each other. Even Josie didn't notice and she always knew who her sister was crushing on, sometimes even before Lizzie herself knew. But I guess she normally didn't have the extra added factor of Penelope occupying her each and every thought. It was mildly inconvenient but she didn't care.

Normally, Penelope would have made some comments about Hope and Lizzie's hands constantly brushing each other but she was too caught up in the same thing happening with her and Josie's hands to care.

__

After dinner had finished, everybody went back to their cabins to get changed. Being the last day, they were all going to be swimming in the lake by their camp. It was a sort of tradition.

By this point, Penelope's friends had straight up given up on trying to get the raven-haired girl to talk to them or hang out with them at all over this camp and didn't even bother asking if Penelope wanted to spend the night with them. They all knew what her answer would be.

In their cabin, Josie got changed into her bikini in the bathroom whilst Penelope changed outside.

When they left and walked towards the lake, they were both wearing denim shorts, with Josie wearing a gray baggy tank top and Penelope wearing a back, tight-fitting crop top.

When they arrived, they all stood around getting the 'don't drown anyone' speech from the instructors before actually getting on with the swimming.

Everyone took off the clothing they were wearing over their swimsuits and chucked them on the floor. Lizzie dragged Josie to the tree to jump in before Penelope could get a word in so she undressed alone.

She was wearing a black bikini with a pair of classy sunglasses resting on her temple. She walked onto the dock and was the first to dive into the water, wearing many a cheer from the boys surrounding them. A few jumped in after her, while a few walked towards the tree and a few decided to do the slow walk in from the shore.

Penelope ended up making her way to where everybody lining up at the bottom of the tree would be jumping. She was alone until she noticed Hope sneaking up on her.

"Hey Penelope," Hope said, a bright smile on her face.

"Hey Hope," Penelope replied, a mirrored smile on her face.

"Ahhh, she speaks," Hope joked, earning a confused look from Penelope, "You've been so infatuated with Josie the last two days, I don't think you've said a single word to me."

Penelope went bright red and hastened to defend herself, "Not true!"

"Okay," Hope said, her signature Mikaelson smirk etched across her face, "I do admit, now that I think about it, you may have said good morning and goodnight."

Penelope splashed her but Hope only laughed at her.

Throughout their whole interaction, she failed to notice that Josie and Lizzie had already jumped into the water and was surprised when she saw them sitting on nearby rocks.

Penelope immediately zoned out of her conversation with Hope and starting unashamedly starting at Josie.

She wore a bright red bikini set and looked incredibly toned. her legs were crossed as she sat perched on her little rock. She had sunglasses resting in her hair which was down in long waved that was now a little less pronounced from having been drenched in water.

Hope made a comment about one of the instructors and Penelope didn't make a move to respond. It hadn't even looked like she had heard her.

Hope gave Penelope a good look and saw her eyes practically popping out of her head. Hope followed her line of sight and when her own eyes fell on Josie, she couldn't help but smirk. She gave Lizzie a similar look for a minute but her face was nothing compared to Penelope's currently unmatched deer in headlights look. If only Hope had a camera with her.

"Penelope," Hope said, but yet again, the ravenette didn't hear her.

"Penelope."

"Penelope."

She repeated herself another 11 times and is increasingly more amused every time she did so.

"Oi, Park!" Hope snapped her fingers in front of Penelope's face and the girl blushed deeper than humanly possible.

"Yeah?" Penelope asked sheepishly.

"And to think you two aren't even together yet," Hope muttered under her breath, shaking her head and snorting with laughter.

"What?" Penelope asked, a little panicky.

"Nothing, just ignore me." Hope laughed, giving Penelope a pat on the shoulder.

"I'm gonna go talk to Lizzie," Hope continued, waving goodbye.

Penelope waved back to Hope and watched her walk away, giving her a curious look. After a little while, she ended up going back to her staring.

In no time at all, Hope had reached the blond twin and whispered something in her ear. Lizzie laughed loudly but Penelope had missed their entire interaction. In fact, she only noticed Lizzie's existence when she leaned into Josie to whisper something in her ear.

Josie then snapped her head directly towards her. Penelope blushed at having been caught, but really, who could blame her? Josie was stunning.

They gazed into the eyes of each other for a few seconds before Josie gave her a wicked smirk.

"Like what you see Park?" Josie asked in a flirty voice that sent shivers down Penelope's spine and gave her goosebumps.

Penelope froze. Well actually her jaw dropped and then she froze. It was a good few seconds before she could get a hold of herself. Actually it may have been a minute but she wasn't really sure.

"You're trying to kill me aren't you?" Penelope finally got out, a grin plastered across her face.

She really didn't want this camp to end. She didn't want this day to end. She didn't want this moment to end. 

In the back of Josie's mind, she knew that she wouldn't let this moment end. Josie had an idea, she was going to ask Penelope out that night. Well actually, she was going to get Penelope to ask her out.


	9. You Make It So Hard To Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie's initiates her simple plan to get Penelope to ask her out.

"Like what you see Park?" Josie asked in a flirty voice that sent shivers down Penelope's spine and gave her goosebumps.

Penelope froze. Well actually her jaw dropped and then she froze. It was a good few seconds before she could get a hold of herself. Actually it may have been a minute but she wasn't really sure.

"You're trying to kill me aren't you?" Penelope finally got out, a grin plastered across her face.

She really didn't want this camp to end. She didn't want this day to end. She didn't want this moment to end. 

In the back of Josie's mind, she knew that she wouldn't let this moment end. Josie had an idea, she was going to ask Penelope out that night. Well actually, she was going to get Penelope to ask her out.

It was a simple plan, but she knew it would work. The right timing, the right place, and the right choice of words - Josie knew - is all that it would take.

She decided to stay on the rock with Lizzie whilst hope went back to Penelope. She and Lizzie could both see Hope making fun of Penelope and could quite clearly see the deep blush on her cheeks too. The sight made the brunette swoon. She still couldn't believe that she was the one that could make the girl like this, make her all hot and bothered. It was Josie who did it.

After a while, the twins ran out of conversation and decided to join Hope and Penelope in the water. They didn't do much talking. They did, however, do a whole lot of splashing and a whole lot of goggling and drooling on Penelope and Josie's behalf.

A while later, whilst Josie was caught up in conversation with Hope, Lizzie took her chance and seized Penelope. She dragged her away from the pair, dunking her head under the water and practically drowning her in the process.

"Hi," Lizzie said casually.

Penelope was still coughing up water and shot daggers at Lizzie.

"Calm down satan," Lizzie teased, "I can practically see the ring of fire surrounding us."

"Listen here, wannabe barbie" Penelope started before her mind caught up to the situation. Penelope was doing this new thing called 'not being a bitch'. "Never mind."

Penelope waved her hand a little in Lizzie's direction, signaling for her to talk. Lizzie just smirked down at the raven-haired girl. _Who are you and what have you done to the bitch we all know and loathe?_

"Okay, so listen," Lizzie started, her smirk falling from her face and focusing entirely on Penelope, giving her a look that could cut someone in half, "I don't exactly know the extent of what's going on with you and my sister-"

"What!! Nothing's going on!" Penelope mumbled defensively.

"Oh, tell that to the heart eyes you shot at there for a good half hour back there!" Lizzie shot back, pointing to where Josie and Hope were giggling and splashing each other.

"Shut up," Penelope muttered under her breath but it was barely audible and Lizzie just decided to keep going.

"As I was saying before I was **rudely** interrupted," Lizzie said, fixing Penelope with a pointed look, "I don't know what's going on between you and Josie, but I know that you like her and she likes you."

Penelope's eyes widened comically.

"I can tell you care about her, but if you hurt her, I will **end** you! And I don't give a shit about your little minions, they can come at me all they want, but I will kill you. Literally."

Penelope audibly gulped and nodded. Melted under Lizzie's stare, something that had never happened before. Normally people bowed before her, but Lizzie didn't seem to give a stuff about her social status and hopped straight to murder. At that moment, Penelope genuinely feared for her life. Not a single bone in Penelope's body doubted what Lizzie had said, she knew she would be a dead man walking if she hurt Josie. Good thing she wasn't planning on doing that.

Lizzie seemed satisfied and patted Penelope on their shoulder kindly, her expression softening.

"And don't worry satan," Lizzie said, her expression softening, "I won't spill the beans to your little band of followers."

"You mean my friends, Blondie?" Penelope joked.

"I wouldn't go as far as to call them 'friends', I don't think you do friends." Completely ignoring what Penelope had just called her

"Hey, what about Josie?"

"Oh honey, anyone with an IQ above zero could tell that you guys are way way past the friend's stage."

"And Hope?" Penelope asked feebly.

Lizzie chuckled under her breath, "I don't think she does friends either."

"Fair point. Anyways, you don't have to worry about me hurting Josie, I wouldn't dream of it."

Lizzie stared deeply into Penelope's eyes and found herself believing the girl. Lizzie nodded and walked back to the other two.

At the start of this trip, Lizzie thought that Penelope was playing Josie, that she was trying to score points amongst her minions, but now Lizzie knew and had known for a while, that Penelope really did like Josie. Nobody was that good of an actor, not even the Blair Bitch.

After a minute or two, Penelope headed back too.

She quickly started up a conversation with Josie. Hope on the other hand leaned her head over to Lizzie.

"What the hell did you dsay to her?" Hope whispered into the blonde's ear.

"Nothing!" Lizzie protested weakly, the lingering smirk on her face not really helping her case.

"She looked terrified!" Hope said in a stern voice but snorted in laughter as well.

"Oops." Was all Lizzie said in response to that before diving at her sister and dunking her under the water, starting a full-on underwater war.

After another hour, the four of them stood by the water drying off. The sun had fully set by this point so they were all just sitting in darkness.

Slowly, everybody else made their way out of the water as well and situation themselves near the four of them. They all turned their heads to the instructor who they could see walking towards the front of the group. They all groaned internally realizing that they were going to be getting the farewell and nice knowing you speech that they received every year. They all just ended up blocking it out.

__

As Penelope and Josie separated from Hope and Lizzie on their way back to their cabin, Josie decided to initiate her plan.

"You know you never answered my question," Josie stated casually.

Penelope instantly knew what she was talking about and flushed deeply. The words 'like what you see Park?' kept ringing in her ears. She had provided an answer at the time but not one to the question.

"But you knew my answer," Penelope said simply, decidedly avoiding the question. Josie however, was not having this. She knew what buttons to press to get answers. So right as they reached their door, Josie held the key out of arm's reach from Penelope and fixed her with a pointed look.

Penelope rolled her eyes, coming to the conclusion that she really wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. She had planned on asking the girl out, hadn't she?

Josie giggled at her eye roll but still made no move to either hand over the key or sue it on the door.

"I still want to hear you say it," Josie said when Penelope stayed pointedly silent.

Penelope gave Josie a good look and finally gave in.

"Do you need me to hang up a banner saying 'I want to go on a date with you' or 'yes! I think you're beautiful!' Josie?"

Josie just giggled, "Well..." She started, moving the key towards the door as she did so, pretending to mull over Penelope's words, "It would be rather handy and rather fun to wave around in front of your admirers so I'd say yes. You do."

Josie punctuated her words with a turn of the door handle as she walked inside. Penelope followed,

Penelope rolled her eyes and sighed, giving Josie a sweet look. She was really going to have to do this. 

"Josette Saltzman-"

"My middle name is Olivia in case you're turning to do the whole full name thing," Josie butted in with a wide smile on her face.

Penelope just shook her head and chuckled, "You make it so hard to like you!"

"Yet you managed," Josie pointed out.

"Okay fine, Josette Olivia Saltzman," she started.

"Penelope Park," Josie responded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Will you go on a date with me?" 

Josie instantly crashed her lips into Penelope's with such force, that Penelope slammed against the wall. They stayed that way for a few seconds before Josie pulled away, in need of oxygen.

"I'll take that as a yes then?" Penelope asked, a little out of breath and flustered.

"Obviously!"

At that, Penelope switched their positions now had Josie up against the wall. They seemed to fit perfectly together, their bodies pressed up against each other, molding into one person.

Penelope captured Josie's bottom lip in her own and tugged on it. It was a battle for dominate and when Josie let out a soft gasp, Penelope took her chance and slipped her tongue into Josie's mouth. Their tongues collided, and Josie eventually let Penelope take control.

Josie's lips felt soft on her own but so strong at the same time. They were firm and never ceasing, but also felt like a soft pillow. Josie's taste was addictive. It was all vanilla and Penelope just couldn't get enough of it.

They eventually made their way back to the bed, with Josie falling softly back on it with a little push from Penelope whose lips had never left hers.

Neither made a move to tear off clothing because that wasn't what this was about. It wasn't them being hot-headed and horny, it was about their genuine connection.

If Penelope would have had it her way, she would never stop kissing Josie. Unfortunately, oxygen tended to get in the way of that little pipe dream of hers.

They ended up falling asleep in each other's arms yet again. But this time, they somehow felt even closer. Josie's leg was dropped over Penelope's - only after she had lost their argument and resigned to the fact that she was little spoon - and they both slept like babies. Or an old married couple, take your pick.

All they knew was that this was the happiest they had ever felt. And for the first time in a long time, Penelope felt like home. She had found a home in Josie.


	10. When Did This Happen?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter... 
> 
> It's the end of camp

"Okay fine, Josette Olivia Saltzman," she started.

"Penelope Park," Josie responded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Will you go on a date with me?" 

Josie instantly crashed her lips into Penelope's with such force, that Penelope slammed against the wall. They stayed that way for a few seconds before Josie pulled away, in need of oxygen.

"I'll take that as a yes then?" Penelope asked, a little out of breath and flustered.

"Obviously!"

At that, Penelope switched their positions now had Josie up against the wall. They seemed to fit perfectly together, their bodies pressed up against each other, molding into one person.

They eventually made their way back to the bed, with Josie falling softly back on it with a little push from Penelope whose lips had never left hers.

Neither made a move to tear off clothing because that wasn't what this was about. It wasn't them being hot-headed and horny, it was about their genuine connection.

They ended up falling asleep in each other's arms yet again. But this time, they somehow felt even closer. Josie's leg was dropped over Penelope's - only after she had lost their argument and resigned to the fact that she was little spoon - and they both slept like babies. Or an old married couple, take your pick.

All they knew was that this was the happiest they had ever felt. And for the first time in a long time, Penelope felt like home. She had found a home in Josie.

__

When the two of them woke up, they both felt so undeniably happy that it took them both a second to remember the night before. When they both did, they wore bright smiles on their faces. That was, of course, until one of the camp instructors knocked on their door and ruined their little moment.

Penelope groaned aa she untangled herself from Josie's body. Josie whined at the loss but was grateful that she didn't have to be the one to get the door.

As soon as Penelope closed - well more like slammed - the door, she walked back over to Josie and planted a kiss on her forehead. Josie smiled at this. Whoever said Penelope was a cold-hearted bitch was a liar, Penelope was indeed a softie.

They both got up and started getting ready.

"Penelope?" Josie asked nervously as she did her bed.

"Yeah?" Penelope looked up and gave Josie her full attention.

"How are we... Uh... How are you going to act when we leave the cabin?" Josie asked and Penelope expression changed into one that Josie couldn't really read so Josie started rambling, "I mean if you're not ready to come out yet, I'm fine with that. I mean it's you're choosing not mine! You don't have to do it just because we are together. Well, dating... Or I don't really know but-"

"Jojo," Penelope but in, walking over to Penelope and taking her face in her hands, "I'm fine with being public if you are."

"Yes I am but-"

"Josie, seriously, you don't have to worry," Penelope said, giving Josie a sweet look, "Pretty much nobody in the school is homophobic so I'm okay with it if you are."

Josie nodded. She still looked a slightly distressed and Penelope remembered another part of Josie's ramble.

"If you want to be, then we are dating," Penelope stated calmy.

Josie's eyes lit up and a smile finally grazed her face.

"Yes, I'd like that," Josie said happily.

Penelope brought their lips together in a chaste kiss before pulling away. Josie whined a little but as Penelope quickly reminded her, they had breakfast to go to.

__

When they arrived at breakfast, they did so holding hands. Josie felt Penelope tense up and freeze on the spot as soon as they reached the door. Nobody had seen them yet so Josie turned to Penelope and gave her hand a quick and gentle squeeze. It was reassuring but also let Penelope know that she could back out of this if she wanted to.

Penelope however didn't back out. Instead, she pulled Josie by the hand and began to walk - well actually it looked more like a strut - into the dining hall.

They both watched eyes turn in their direction and they watched jaw's drop to the floor. Some were quickly picked up and some stayed put. Hope and Lizzie just nudged each other in the side at the sight and gave each other a quick smile.

Penelope and Josie ignored everyone and just moved to their table to sit down. Some eyes followed them and continued to stare whilst others were kinder and went back to their conversations.

Hope and Lizzie both stayed determinedly silent for the first the minutes of their meal before Lizzie finally spoke up.

"Okay, Hope's not going to say anything and I was trying not to but when did this," She pointed to their intertwined hands, "happen? I mean I saw it coming from a literal mile away, but when did this happen?"

Hope gave Lizzie a pointed glare, clearly telling her not to be so nosy but Lizzie didn't really care.

Josie had chocked on her juice when Lizzie said this but Penelope took it in her stride.

"When do you think it happened Voldemort?" Penelope asked, earning an elbow in the ribs at her little nickname towards Lizzie from Josie, "Ow."

"Well, satan," Lizzie started, earning an elbow int eh ribs from Hope, "Ouch. And also rude!" Lizzie gave ope a pointed glare and Hope just shrugged, "That was more of an invitation to spill the beans about what happened. I mean I knew you were going to get over your gay panic at some point and ask my sister out but I didn't think it would be so soon."

This time Penelope chocked on her drink and Josie just laughed, taking the perfect opportunity to tease Penelope.

"Well it did take a while to get it out of her," Josie admitted with a shrug of her shoulders, completely ignoring the scandalized look on Penelope's face, "and a lot of her dodging the bullet but we got there eventually."

Hope and Lizzie just laughed.

"Oh, do tell!" Hope said, earning what seemed to be a proud look from Lizzie. Hope was learning.

"Well, first mentioned the fact that she never answered my question from the lake-"

And Josie dived into the story of last night after Penelope gave her a quick squeeze to the hand, telling her that despite the fact that this would inevitably embarrass the hell out of Penelope, Josie was free to tell the story.

The rest of Breakfast consisted of a whole lot of laughing from Hope and Lizzie and a lot of blushing from Penelope.

__

When it was inevitably time to leave, the four of them hopped onto the bus together and headed towards. Hope and Lizzie sat together on the right-hand side whilst Josei sat down on the left. Penelope was about to sit down next to her when a hand caught her arm. She turned around and saw Sasha.

"You know campo is over right?" Sasha asked as if stating the obvious, "You don't have to keep pretending to like her you know? We saved a seat for you up at the front."

Penelope froze. She looked down at Josie who had a kind yet the nervous expression on her face as if she had actually taken what Sasha said to heart. Penelope quickly rushed to scold Sasha.

"First of all bitch!" Penelope said in a slightly raised voice, giving Sasha a pointed look, "I'm not pretending. Unlike you, I do have a heart. And I won't be needing that seat thank you very much!"

Sasha liked scandalized as Penelope proceeded to wiggle her wrist out of her hand and sat down beside Josie, earning a smile from the brunette.

"So you're really going to give up everything you've worked for just for a girl?" Sasha pushed.

"What?" Penelope asked, "You mean giving up being a bitch? Do tell me Sasha, do you enjoy terrorizing every single student that walks through our school doors? Is that why you do it? Or are you just naturally a cold-hearted bitch?"

Sasha didn't seem to have a comeback and just stormed away. The second she was out of earshot, Lizzie burst into laughter along with Hope.

"I would give a round of applause but your ego does not need boosting," Lizzie said, giving a Penelope a smile that completely undermined the snark in her voice.

Josie just smiled up at her and whispered a 'thank you' into her ear.

"Anytime," Penelope said, kissing Josie on the forehead as the brunette moved to lean her head against her shoulder.

Josie fell asleep that way and Penelope just smiled. She would've spent the entirety of the bus ride just staring at Josie but the movement to the right off her immediately got her attention.

She watched in silence as Lizzie casually slipped her hand into Hope's. Hope jumped slightly at the sudden contact but didn't seem surprised by the movement. In fact, she mirrored Josi's movements and rested her head on Lizzie's shoulder, learning a smile from the blonde.

Penelope snorted in quick laugher and shook her head. She should have seen this one coming.

__

After about half an hour, Josie woke up and Penelope immediately unplugged the headphones she had been using to listen to music.

"Hi," Josie mumbled, a little dazed from sleep.

"Hi,' Penelope said smiling.

Penelope waited a while for Josie to wake up before putting the question to her. After a few minutes, Josie looked awake enough.

"Jojo, is your sister into girls?" Penelope whispered under her breath, well aware that Lizzie was still awake beside her even though Hope was not.

"I don't know," Jose said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"How could you not know? She's your twin," Penelope pointed out.

"Yeah well maybe she just wasn't ready to tell me," Josie said with another shrug, "I asked her once but she didn't give me a straight answer."

"Maybe that's because she's gay," Penelope said with a smirk. She got her second elbow to the chest that morning but also got a laugh out of Josie.

"Okay, I may have walked right into that one." Josie admitted with a snort of laugher, "But what makes you say that?"

She pointed over at Hope and Lizzie's intertwined hands and said "Call it a hunch."

Josie's eyes widened and shook her head.

"I should have seen that one coming," She said to herself with a laugh.

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Penelope finally asked the question she had been dying to ask all morning.

"So about that date..." Penelope started before trailing off.

"yes?" Josie responded, a hint of mischief in her voice.

"I uh..." Penelope tried to get the words out but they failed her.

"I'm free on Monday night," Josie said, putting Penelope out of her misery.

Penelope nodded and smiled. She only noticed that her phone had been taken from her hand when Josie held it up to her face, getting the facial recognition to open the phone.

"What are you doing?" Penelope asked curiously. She didn't have anything to hide so she wasn't really nervous about it.

"You don't have my number," Josie pointed out with a quick laugh.

Penelope nodded and let a smile take over the features of her face. She thought she heard Lizzie mutter 'whipped' under her breath to the right of her, but when she turned to face her, Lizzie feigned sleep.

__

Monday at school was rather interesting. Penelope straight up ignored her posse the whole day, spending it with Josie, Hope, and even Lizzie or a combination of the three depending on the class and who she shared it with.

She saw her posse shoot her weird looks throughout the day, but she knew that despite the fact she was no longer their 'leader', she still had a death glare that could burn each and every one of them to the ground. They were all too scared of her to confront her.

That night, she picked up Josie from her house and brought her to a little park on the edge of their town. She had prepared a little picnic - with the help of Lizzie - for Josie.

It was quite romantic for Penelope's standards and it even surpassed their last night at camp as the best day of her life. Well, that was at least until more dates issued, including plenty of double dates with Lizzie and Hope.

They became the school's power couple even though the only people they now hung out with were Hope and Lizzie. The four of them had become a friendship group that nobody dared to touch and they loved it. They didn't even have to work for it either. They weren't bitchy or anything, people just seemed to naturally fear them so they took it in their stride.

You know what they say about high school relationships not lasting? Well, not true. Because both of theirs did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the support throughout this FIC! I'm so happy that people liked it.
> 
> I was planning on writing more about their date but I am only 15 and I, unfortunately, do have a bedtime/curfew/whatever you wanna call it :(  
> I do hope that the ending was still good.
> 
> I've written another FIC before this called a lingering love, so maybe read it if you enjoyed this? It's another Posie FIC.
> 
> I'm also going to write more FIC's after this. I might take a break for tomorrow but after that, I'm going to start something new. I do have ideas but let me know if you have anything you want me to write. This fanfic was actually based on a recommendation I got at the end of my last one.
> 
> Thank you!!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think :)


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